Kabardino-Balkaria: local Adygs treat Tbilisi conference as political PR-act

Today, the Coordination Board of Adyg NGOs of Kabardino-Balkaria has disseminated a statement treating the scientific conference held in Tbilisi on Circassians' genocide as a "scandal" arranged by Georgian leaders with the aim "to draw attention of international public."

"It's easy to guess that it was another attempt of Georgian leaders to revenge on Russia, using this time the issue of genocide of the Circassian people as a tool. It is obvious that for Saakashvili it is just an additional political instrument for establishing his geopolitical interests in Northern Caucasus. It is clear that for this purpose the Georgian leadership tries to rehabilitate itself before Caucasian nations after shameful defeats in Abkhazia and South Ossetia," runs the statement.

In the opinion of its authors, the aim of the conference was not reached, as the Circassian world in its majority has actually ignored Saakashvili's team - Circassians from Russia and Turkey ignored the event.

The authors of the document are convinced that prior to start talking about Circassians' genocide, the authorities of Georgia should have first established normal neighbourhood relations with Abkhazians and Ossetians and return Meskhetian Turks to their historical homeland.

Further the document notes that "the Circassian problem that evolved after the century-long Caucasian War of the 19th century remains unresolved."

Today, the Circassians who had been violently evicted by the imperial Russia from their homeland live in more than 40 countries of the world. Only 10 percent of all the Adygs (700,000 persons) live in Russia.

"Today the issue is to create in the modern democratic Russia political-and-legal conditions for the homecoming of the descendants of Circassian exiles of the 19th century, and to equate them to their Russian-speaking compatriots," the document emphasizes.

The authors believe that the Adygs' problems should be discussed and solved within the Russian legal environment, without intervention from abroad.

The statement was signed by Zheliabi of Kalmykov, Chairman of the Coordination Board of the Adyg NGOs, Mukhamed Khafitse, head of the public organization "Adyge Khasse", and Muazin Khachetlov, Chairman of the Board of the Public Movement "Kabardian Congress".